One year of piano progress (as a 40-year-old beginner)

So I spent a year learning to play the piano. This video - the result of probably about 350-400 hours of practice - doesn't even come close to some of the one-year progress videos out there, but I'm putting it up here as a record of my progress, and hopefully to inspire someone else to take a leap into starting something they've always wanted to do.

I messed around with a bunch of different songs that I couldn't include in this video, and I'm planning to continue tweaking everything I worked on - as you can probably hear, my tempo and dynamics need work even on the stuff I can 'play'. I used a bunch of resources, but some of the most useful were:

Jane's Piano (YouTube channel)
Andrew Furmanczyk (YouTube channel)

(Disclaimer: These are affiliate links, I'll a commission if you buy the book or piano from them. No extra charges are made to you. Thank you!)

I practised scales pretty much every day that I sat at the piano for at least the first eight months, and added in arpeggios and chord inversions after that. I also started reading music from my first day, although I didn't practice that as much as I should have - planning much more of it over the next year. If you've got any more questions about technique/songs I learned, etc, please hit me up in the comments - and please subscribe to see future piano projects!

[chrisrojas]

Now imagine how quickly a one year old can learn this with 40 pianos.

[selftrue]

For those of you who feel you might be too old: I am 67 years old. I've played piano all my life but I remained at the same skill level for decades. Just about a year ago, I answered a Craigslist ad from some guys in my area wanting to put a band together. It's not like me to do that, but for some reason, I took a chance. Now I'm playing in three bands and all that playing has really upped my game. At 67. If I can do it, you can do it. The challenge is both fun and personally rewarding. Don't say or think you can't. Because you can.

[treestand]

As someone who's 24 with no musical experience and is starting the process of learning, this has given me so much inspiration!❣️

[carpark]

Seasoned pianist here and your progress in 1 year is remarkable. Perhaps you have the tenacity at 40. When I was learning as a 5-10 year old I couldn't care less about the piano and just counted the seconds until I could just end the lesson and get out of there. I think the mindset plays a pivotal role in how quickly your brain can soak it up. A very strong affective filter, if you will. You really wanted to learn and you put your heart and soul into it. Fantastic job.

[jacobfunnell]

So happy to find a real vid, and nice to see where genuine work can get you. People don't realize the fake "Grade 7 after a year" vids are just demoralizing for others!

[ericthompson]

Well, my friend, I have to comment. I'm a professional pianist, masters degree in performance, and I am very impressed with what you've done in one year. I've been teaching all ages and levels since around 1995, and what you've just demonstrated is on the high end for such a short time of study. Good for you, my friend. Keep it up!

[markthompson]

I'm almost 42 and I just started yesterday. Thanks for the inspiration.

[sajjanrajvaidya]

That is fantastic. This makes my heart happy. Good on you, mate!

[agcandkrc]

This is what YouTube should always have been about! So inspiring. Great job!

[ilovepianomagic]

As a piano teacher, I am super impressed by your ability to improv in such a small amount of time!!

[JamesIVmusic]

I'm a full time piano teacher and I applaud you! I wish all of my students had the same drive as you. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Sunitha]

I am a 40 yr old female - Learning the Keyboard as well. 6 classes done. This encourages me so much. Will keep practicing. Thank you so much for this video. ❤😊❤

[slandshark]

I'm 40, just started learning the piano 2 weeks ago. I'm finding extreme satisfaction with just simple milestones and reading half of the easiest songs of all time. :) It was my 6 year old daughter who inspired me. She came to me 2 weeks ago and had written notes on a piece of paper on sheet music shew drew from scratch. She asked me what it would sound like. She has never played an instrument before. That exact moment I dropped everything and immediately looked up an app to help her learn while we are at home. 2 weeks later, we are both playing every day and she's actually ahead of me in the lessons. The rest of my family (my Wife, me and our 3 daughters, oldest is 9) also started practicing as well all at the same time. The piano is bringing insane amounts of joy to my life and to my family!

[davidc]

What impressed me the most was not the playing, but this man's perfect posture! I bet his back never gets sore!

[AGL]

You have no idea how inspiring this is! A lot of people begin to coast through life as they age. But examples like this is what makes life amazing. Stop coasting, and start living! ❤️

[citrus_speaks]

It's refreshing to see someone who isn't perfect persevering in the face of mistakes and difficulty. That's what made this so inspirational to me. Thank you!

[qwadratix]

I've been playing now for about 18 months and yeah, this looks about right. I'm rather older than most at 74 so maybe I'm a bit slower.
I've had problems with the fact that I found it easier to memorize pieces at first than to read the music but after about the 4th piece (Anna Magdalena) I ran into the fact that you have to constantly reinforce the memory or it fades and there simply isn't time in the day to keep it up.
Now I've started over, making an effort to deliberately avoid memorizing and just reading off the page. It's coming along. Progress feels slower but I don't have the problem of simply running out of disk space anymore. 🤣

[joebremer]

Oh my gosh! As someone who is in the process of learning piano and only ever sees people who have years of experience play, this is very inspiring and comforting. Thank you for putting this out.

[ThankYou-bnbp]

Omg I’m so glad to find you and this community! I’m 36 and have literally just started learning piano today. I look forward to the journey of learning as much as the results. ❤

[risika]

I was listening to a podcast that said, “it’s important to live life by design rather than emotion. Basically, sticking to a routine is what allows us to be the healthiest version of ourselves (especially when you're fighting these demons ex. OCD for me).

I’ve had to overhaul how I approach taking care of my brain (exercise, journaling, studying etc) by practising mediocre consistency. Now I try to put in consistent 50-60% effort into my habits - to make sure I do it I began recording it and posting it on YT.

Historically I have a habit of going too hard, not being able to sustain the Herculean effort, giving up and hating myself. So now I’m trying to give a small, consistent mediocre effort everyday. And its crazy how it adds up. Finally i feel regulated enough to begin the journey of learning new hobbies - and I feel ready to be seen trying.